Manila, Philappines - THE SUPREME Court has ruled that it could not decide on matters of religion as it dismissed a petition from excommunicated members of a religious sect for lack of merit, a court statement said.
In a 10-page decision penned by Justice Renato Corona, the high tribunal ruled that courts should not “intrude unduly in matters of an ecclesiastical nature such as doctrinal and disciplinary differences.”
The high tribunal dismissed a petition from 10 members of the Philippine Independent Church (PIC) for it to review a Court of Appeals decision, which said that the Surigao City regional trial court did not have jurisdiction on cases involving excommunication.
The petitioners were excommunicated after they tried to have one Father Rustom Florano transferred to another diocese. The PIC rejected their request, saying the “political rift” between Florano’s wife and one petitioner Dominador Taruc was not sufficient ground to merit the priest’s transfer.